The Arctic Council Expert Group on Black Carbon and Methane, which includes experts from all over the world including Canada, added the two new recommendations, along with previous recommendations in four other areas: diesel-powered sources, the oil and gas sector, residential combustion and solid waste disposal, in its 2019 report Summary of Progress and Recommendations, according to RCI, Radio Canada International.

“The expert group certainly concluded that’s there’s potential for making more ambitious targets ,” said Mikael Hilden, the former chair of the Arctic Council Expert Group on Black Carbon and Methane under Finland’s 2017-2019 chairmanship.

“Black carbon can, of course, not be completely excluded,” Hilden said in telephone interview from Helsinki. “As long as humans burn something, there will be some emissions of black carbon. But it can be contained, it can be reduced significantly. That’s the important message.”

• Black carbon and methane emissions are a serious concern for the world’s circumpolar countries because of this form of pollution’s role in warming the atmosphere.
• When black carbon is deposited on ice and snow, it absorbs heat, instead of reflecting heat from these surfaces, contributing to global warming.
• After carbon dioxide, it’s the second biggest contributor to warming.
• Black carbon is made up of fine matter produced by incomplete combustion of carbon-based fuels. It can be emitted by everything from diesel engines to forest fires.
• Because black carbon particles are so small, they can be inhaled and have also been linked to respiratory and circulatory problems in humans.

Recommendations around agricultural policies includes finding ways to reduce agricultural burning as well as recommendations to “…promote food consumption patterns that utilize Arctic food chains sustainability and efficiently, support the preservation of carbon sinks, and minimize life-cycle emissions of methane,” says the report.

It also recommends that work be done to reduce emissions of enteric methane under Arctic conditions, in co-operation with relevant organizations. Enteric methane is caused when organic matter breaks down, reports RCI, Radio Canada International.